Workers Sought 15 Percent.

Bethlehem remains far apart in its contract talks with police and firefighters, prompting both unions to ask the state for binding arbitration.

The 136-member Fraternal Order of Police Local 75 and 110-member International Association of Firefighters last week requested arbitration hearings by the American Arbitrators Association.

Contract talks began in May with the city asking that unionized employees take a wage freeze in 1999, followed by 2-percent increases the next two years. Meanwhile, police and fire negotiators were demanding a 15-percent increase over three years.

Though talks with service employees and firefighters are progressing, talks with police have reportedly bogged down and police union officials have told their membership that the city is not bargaining in good faith.

"Yes, they've filed for arbitration," said Mayor Don Cunningham. "But that doesn't preclude us from coming to a settlement on our own. We will continue to work toward that."

"We will continue to negotiate, but we wanted to get the ball rolling," said Mike Smith, president of the firefighters union. "We felt we had to file for arbitration in order to preserve our rights down the road."

City officials say the loss of as much as $750,000 in water and tax revenues from Bethlehem Steel has made this a particularly difficult year for contract talks, but unions officials say they would have likely filed for arbitration even if talks were going smoothly. State law requires that the unions request arbitration at least 100 days before their Dec. 31 contract expiration.

The city is also negotiating with the 225-member service employees union, but unlike police and fire workers, the Service Employees International Union has the right to strike.

Because police and fire are considered essential personnel, if a contract agreement can't be reached their only option is binding arbitration, and they were required to have filed their request by Saturday.

Under arbitration, the city and the union each pick an arbitrator, and they mutually agree on a neutral arbitrator from a list provided by the Arbitrators Association. Then the city and union arbitrators make their arguments to the neutral arbitrator, and he drafts a contract based on those arguments.

Cunningham said that because the arbitrators decision will be based heavily on the city's ability to pay, he's not discouraged by the arbitration filings.

"We'd like to settle this ourselves," he said. "But given the city's current financial situation, I certainly don't fear the arbitration process. The money's just not there."